Credit: Bravo
Tamra Judge doesn’t think Shannon Beador makes for “good TV.”
While appearing on Jeff Lewis‘ radio show on Friday, the 58-year-old Real Housewives of Orange County star offered an update on where she stands with her castmates after season 19, revealed why she and her co-stars are shaking in their boots about season 20, and named who should return alongside Vicki Gunvalson, 63.
On the November 21 episode of SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live, Tamra was asked for a status update on each of her co-stars, starting with Shannon, 61.
“We’re still hearing about [David Beador] and [John Janssen]. That does not make good TV,” Tamra noted.
As for Emily Simpson, 49, Tamra said, “I’m very, very, very hurt by Emily.”
“I don’t know what I did wrong to her. I’ve always been supportive of her. She has a podcast on my network, and everything she’s done, I’ve supported,” she stated. “We’ve been out with [Shane Simpson] and her.”
“I think I can move forward. [But] she owes me an apology,” Tamra continued. “Why would you say you’re not on my network? … I set her up for success … How about, ‘Thank you so much Tamra, me and Shane really appreciate it.’”
Regarding Gina Kirschenheiter, 41, Tamra had all good things to say.
“I adore Gina. I’ve always supported Gina and always praise her for what she’s done. She reminds me a lot of myself 15 years ago where she got divorced, moved into a casita, has worked her butt off to get to where she’s at. I have a lot of respect for her,” she gushed.
Tamra then said that she “tried” to “move forward” with Jennifer Pedranti, 48, amid season 19, confirmed that she and Heather Dubrow, 56, “talk every single day,” and admitted she doesn’t think she and Gretchen Rossi, 47, will ever get to a better place.
“I just don’t think she can move on, and quite frankly, how many things can I be accused of — that some of them are illegal — before [I say], ‘You know what? Get away from me?’” she wondered.
When asked if Katie Ginella, 41, would return for season 20, Tamra said that at this point, she and her castmates are “sitting ducks.”
“We’re just waiting to see who’s coming back and who’s not. I don’t know of anybody that’s safe except Vicki,” she noted. “Everybody’s pretty much shaking in their boots because there was a press release by Bravo that says there’s gonna be a shakeup and nobody knows what that means.”
Looking back at the recent reunion, Tamra said that Bravo did not give her and her co-stars a budget.
“They say, ‘Get your a** out there and buy three dresses. We’ll pick which one,’ because it’s all about the color and who’s sitting where,” she explained, “They give us a color palette, and then we go and buy, we try to get a dress in each one of the colors, and then they put it together. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
“Just in the last year or so we’ve been able to wear long dresses. Before, we were always in short dresses and jewel colors,” she added.
As she looked ahead to Vicki’s return, Tamra said she was “very excited.”
“I really want it to be back to how it was at the beginning, the fun, I want Vicki being in my bed … falling over surfboards … She’s fun,” Tamra stated. “I think it’s what we need and I knew that Vicki would not perform fully unless she had an orange.”
According to Tamra, she and Vicki made amends after a years-long feud after Vicki sent something to Teddi Mellencamp, 44, amid her cancer battle and apologized for their past drama.
“I opened my eyes up to being friends with Vicki again. So we started talking … then I said on my podcast that I think she should be back for season 20 out of respect, and that’s all it took,” she recalled. “We wanted her on the podcast so we reached out.”
As for claims of their reconciliation being “convenient,” Tamra denied any such thing.
“People are like, like Emily, ‘This is so convenient.’ I had no idea Vicki was coming back. I wanted her back, but I didn’t know. No one knew,” she insisted.
Also on the radio show, after stating that bringing back Vicki was “the first step,” Tamra admitted there were several others she’d like to see return, including Alexis Bellino, 48, and Kelly Dodd, 50.
“[Kelly] was polarizing on the show, very polarizing on the show, and people love that,” she explained. “It’s just unfortunate that she crosses a line sometimes and goes after us personally. She needs to stop doing that.”
As for who else should come back, Tamra named Jo De La Rosa, 45, saying they were “good friends,” Jeana Keough, 70, describing her as “a kick in the pants,” and Lauri Peterson, 65.